


Harlan

by Dayspring



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-14
Updated: 2014-06-14
Packaged: 2018-02-04 16:37:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1785985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dayspring/pseuds/Dayspring
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A common cause brings together lawman and barman.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Harlan

**Author's Note:**

> This submission is part of HD Smoochfest on Livejournal. The theme this year is Media Remix, which invited participants to "remix" the story from a Book, Movie, Television Show. The author/artist will be revealed at the end of the fest.
> 
> This was created for Prompt Number: T19  
> Original Work Name: Justified
> 
> Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No copyright infringement is intended.
> 
> Author's Notes: Thanks to L for a very fast and wonderful beta!  
> Been a while since I've written a story. Hope you enjoy!

Harry stared at the silent figure on the bed and shook his head in self-disgust. Of all the fuck-ups he'd made in his life—and, O Merlin, there were many—this was the worst. He'd let down the one person who'd been counting on him. He was the man in Teddy's life, the heroic godfather who could protect him from all things evil. But he hadn't. He'd been so self-righteous in his ability to care for Teddy, that he'd let Teddy himself slip through the cracks.

So now Teddy was in a magically-induced coma, fighting off the insidious effect of Sleepless Dream, a bastard hybrid of dreamless sleep and Muggle LSD. The LSD counteracted the magical potion so when combined, it allowed the person to escape into a dream world, to “trip,” while being completely awake. Made for great party fun, according to young wizards. But sometimes the mix was wrong and the user got stuck in their dreams, never able to “wake” but also never able to sleep. The body kept going in the dream world until the user eventually died. So Teddy had been put into a magical coma to slow down his body until the poison was out of his body.

Or at least that was what the healers hoped.

Harry sighed and fidgeted in the chair. He'd sent Andromeda home a few hours ago. While still young in wizard years, it was hard for her to watch her grandchild lay as still as his mother had been so many years ago. So he'd sent her to rest and told her he'd look after Teddy. Which was about to become an untruth.

Harry stalked out to the waiting area. Hermione and Ron immediately paused their conversation and looked at him in concern.

He shook his head. “Teddy's...the same. Can you look after him for me?”

Hermione nodded. “Of course, Harry, you need to rest.”

Ron gave him a doubtful look. “He's not going home, honey.”

She frowned. “What do you mean? What does he mean, Harry?”

Harry's fingers ran through his thick hair. “I can't—I can't sit here or at home and do nothing, Hermione. I need...answers. I need...someone's head to bash in for luring Teddy into this shite. For making it in the first place.”

“But you been trying to figure that out for months,” Hermione said to both her husband and friend. “Ron, you said there had been no progress.”

“There hasn't,” Ron agreed.

“So, Harry, you can't--”

“I can,” Harry interrupted. “There's a tree that needs to be shaken.”

Ron bit his lip, understanding instantly. “It's been shaken, mate. Nothing fell out.”

“Oh, it will this time.”

“What makes you think he'll talk to you?”

Harry gave a bitter chuckle. “”Don't you know he always talks, Ron. Getting him to say anything is the trick.”

“Who are you talking about?” Hermione sounded frustrated; she hated when they talked in what she called “Auror Code.” Harry figured she just hated not knowing something.

“Malfoy,” Harry and Ron said at the same time.

“You think he's in on this?”

Harry snorted. “Muggle drugs? Highly doubtful.”

“So why are you leaving Teddy to go see him?”

“Harlan,” Harry and Ron said in unison again.

“Harlan?”

“Malfoy's pub,” Ron explained. “If a deals goes down around here, it's either made at Harlan or the deal to make the deal is made at Harlan.”

“And you let this place exist?”

Harry shrugged. “It's not violating any Ministry laws. Malfoy makes sure of that. He doesn't put up with anything actually going down at Harlan. Talk, finalise...whatever, but action has to take place outside the pub.”

“But?” Hermione prompted.

“But Malfoy knows what's going on. He always knows.”

“And he's going to tell you?” she asked skeptically.

“Yes,” Harry replied definitively.

~HPHPHP~

The neon letters spelling out HARLAN were garish in the perpetual gloominess of Knockturn Alley, although the pub was technically still part of Diagon Alley by about the length of a broomstick. It was open 24-7 and Harry had never wandered in without Malfoy being there.. There was something strange about that but that was a worry for another day.

Just as he predicted, Malfoy was behind the bar as he entered the establishment.

“Oi, what do we have here?” Malfoy called loudly, attracting the attention of the pub's denizens. “Why, it's Harry Potter—the Boy-Who-Lived or as I like to call him: the Git-Who-Didn't-Have-The-Decency-To-Die. Come in, Sir, come in. All are welcome at Harlan—the good, the bad, the don't give a shites. Unless you're here on official business—then I must request the requisite paperwork filled out in triplicate and signed by the Minister himself. I am a common business owner and therefore am assured of equal and--”

“I bet everyone just loves to hear you talk,” Harry said dryly.

Malfoy changed gears immediately. "What a lovely compliment, Potter. I think it's the melodic, yet eloquent tones of perfectly accented Merlin's English that falls upon the ear so well. Then again, it may have been my parents insistence that I be taught French at an early...”

Harry tuned him out, not wanting to hear about the elder Malfoys but not wanting to speak ill of the dead either. However, after what seemed like hours, he'd had enough. “Teddy is at St. Mungo's.”

  
Malfoy shut up. He turned and yelled toward a dark corner. “Blaise, take over. I'm in my office.” He nodded to Harry. “Follow me.” A narrow hallway. A narrow door. A big, fancy office. “Have a seat, Potter, and tell me what the fuck is going on.”

“Is that more of Merlin's perfect English?” Yeah, he was deflecting. So what?

“You're deflecting, Potter.” Fuck. “You wouldn't walk into this den of supposed iniquity to tell me my cousin has dragonpox or some other childhood infirmity. What's wrong with him and how am I involved?”

“Sleepless Dream.”

Malfoy took a deep breath and held it for several terrifying seconds, then he let loose. “You bleeding idiot! You let a child, in your inestimable care, succumb to a filthy halfbreed of a potion!”

“He's fourteen!”

“Which means he was old enough to learn the words 'Just Say No.' If the Muggles can figure that out, surely you can!”

“I--” Harry stopped. He had no excuse. “I fucked up, Malfoy. Is that what you want to hear? I fucked up. The MLE has fucked up. We're all sorry arseholes okay!”

”Okay,” Malfoy agreed. He walked to the door. “Greg!”

“Yeah?” A lumbering shadow appeared in the hallway. “Sleepless Dream! Who? Where? And no foreplay! Fuck and get the hell back here! Got it?” The door slammed closed.

“So the whole gang's back together, eh?” Harry observed. He knew that whatever Goyle did probably wasn't going to be legal and since it was Teddy—he didn't give a fuck.

Malfoy settled back into his very comfortable looking chair. “You know how I came to own Harlan? After my parents were murdered--”

“Sorry about that,” Harry apologised. Shitty Auror-work there, even if it was while he was still in training.

Malfoy shrugged. “Although I was cleared of all crimes since I was both underage and openly coerced, no one gave a fuck about that. I was still a Malfoy and unwanted. I'd just lost my parents and all I wanted to do was go somewhere and drown my sorrows. But no one would have me. The Leaky Caldron refused to serve me. Even the Hog's Head wouldn't let me in. Finally, there was this place, Harlan, owned by an exiled Yank and named after his home county. I didn't even know the Colonies had counties; I thought I'd heard something about states. Anyway, he didn't give a shit about my name and let me drink. When there was a disturbance, I went behind the bar to fix my own refill. He was surprised, but I informed him that a proper host knew how to prepare his guests drinks in case the guest was paranoid or indeed an assassin's target--”

“Interesting guests you had at the manor, yeah?”

“Death Eaters, Potter. Voldemort. Shall I go on?”

Harry nodded, wondering if he could blame exhaustion for his utter stupidity.

“So this Yank offered me a job and even though the Ministry didn't completely leave the Malfoy coffers empty, I would have gone completely nutters at the Manor alone. So I said yes and began to work here. When the Yank's mother fell ill, he said 'fuck 'em' and went home. I bought Harlan for a virtual handful of galleons and the promise not to change the name. I then turned it into a refuge for people like me—the unwanted in this new, non-prejudiced, post-Voldemort world. So yeah, there are a number of former Slytherins hanging around. Where else can they be?”

So okay, nearly fifteen years had passed and grudges were still being held, with Purebloods being the target rather than Mudbloods. Shite. He'd killed Voldemort why? Something touched his hand and he pulled himself out of his thoughts enough to accept the drink Malfoy offered him. “Do you ever wonder if we went through the War just for the hell of it?”

Malfoy snorted. “Made us the men we are now, didn't it?”

Yeah. Shirt-lifting bachelors who worked too damn hard. “When Teddy's back on his feet, I'm taking him on holiday. Somewhere far from here, I think.”

“Running away, Potter?”

“Absolutely.”

Malfoy smiled but before he could comment, the door swung open. Goyle stomped through, tossed a piece of parchment on the desk and stomped back out. Malfoy glanced at the note, then flicked it in Harry's direction. “Your call, Potter. Tell your Weasley and other uniformed colleagues and you can collect the sinners all legal-like and pain-free, or come with me and teach them not to mess with a Malfoy blood relative and the godson of the Savior of the Fucking Free World?”

Harry tapped the desk for a long minute, then gulped down the rest of his drink. “I was just following a lead. I didn't know anyone was going to be there. I got caught and had to fight my way out. I'm sorry there were casualties,” he recited dutifully as he drew his wand.

“Good. Let's go do what we do, Potter.” Malfoy stood and drew his own wand. Then he walked next to Harry and grasped his chin.

“Malfoy?”

Malfoy's lips were soft, but demanding against his. Harry started to pull back, but couldn't find an excuse to do so. This could be a lethal gang they were up against. Might be his last snog and all. He leaned in and gave as good as he got.

When they finally had to come up for air, Malfoy looked at him with a smile. “Welcome to the Dark Side, Potter.”

“Fight first, Dark Side later,” Harry promised.

~HPHPHP~

In the end there was almost no fight. The would-be druggists were a pair of Muggleborn Hogwarts dropouts, who dropped their wands as soon as they were confronted by the two angry Wizards. So things were going well until--

“You're Harry Potter!” one youth exclaimed as Harry put magical cuffs on him.

The other young wizard then turned around to Malfoy and said, “So you must be Ron Weasley!”

Harry was glad he already had the skill set to defeat a Dark Lord.

Eventually, the two experimental potioneers were safely escorted to the Ministry, Harry went back to St. Mungo's and Malfoy to Harlan. Teddy was awakened from his coma. Hermione started a watchdog group against bigotry with Ron faithfully by her side—while keeping watch himself.

During summer break from Hogwarts, Harry, true to his word, took Teddy on a tour of the continent. Of course, since traveling was new to him, he needed a guide—one who spoke perfect Merlin English along with several other apparently necessary languages. Fun was had by all.

The End

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